Enter your theSundaily username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
Thu, Feb 23, 2012

The Nutmeg Verses

The Nutmeg Verses

Chowrasta and the traditional marketplace

Posted on 22 February 2012 - 06:31pm
Last updated on 22 February 2012 - 08:53pm

Himanshu Bhatt

THERE is a quiet back lane behind the throbbing Chowrasta marketplace of George Town where hidden from public gaze is a curious old signboard. Bent and worn by the elements, it reads "Piccadilly Bazaar".

Unlike the crowded busy square in London it is named after, the little space the board refers to has only 20-odd idle shops.

Saving an ancient Malay village

Posted on 15 February 2012 - 07:49pm
Last updated on 15 February 2012 - 10:02pm

Himanshu Bhatt

BY April 1972, Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak visited Kampung Tanjung Tokong, a Malay settlement in Penang said to have existed as a fishing community since before the British colonialists landed on the island in 1786.

For water-bearers of a distant past

Posted on 8 February 2012 - 08:51pm
Last updated on 8 February 2012 - 09:27pm

Himanshu Bhatt

WHILE hundreds of thousands of Malaysians observed Thaipusam earlier in the week with prayer and penance, a profoundly deep historical significance of the event has remained largely forgotten.

This has to do with the origins of Thaipusam in Malaysia being connected to the raw and oft-neglected sacrifice of thousands upon thousands of Indian labourers, whose hard work practically

Fulfilling Tunku’s pledge

Posted on 1 February 2012 - 05:49pm
Last updated on 1 February 2012 - 06:30pm

Himanshu Bhatt

SOMETIME in 1965, the government suspended local government elections, which were being practised across the country, due to a proclamation of emergency brought about by the Confrontation with Indonesia.

What it meant was that all elections involving town and city councils ceased to exist.

Will the GM mosquito be the feared dragon?

Posted on 25 January 2012 - 08:21pm
Last updated on 25 January 2012 - 08:53pm

Himanshu Bhatt

SOMETIME early last year, the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) caused ripples of consternation when it announced that some 6,000 mosquitoes which had been genetically modified in a laboratory had been secretly released during a field trial in December 2010.

While some quarters lamented that the announcement came more than a month after the release, a group of 21 NGOs wrote to

Tragic waste of treated water

Posted on 18 January 2012 - 07:01pm
Last updated on 18 January 2012 - 08:30pm

Himanshu Bhatt

MOST of us take the clear water that flows into our homes and commercial premises for granted. In fact, we are dangerously insulated from the reality of how much of this precious natural resource is wasted.

The Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (AWER) expressed concern over findings that an estimated RM1.74 billion in treated water was lost in 2010.

People’s right to know

Posted on 5 January 2012 - 04:56am

Himanshu Bhatt

A MAJOR public concern has become amplified in an unprecedented way, due to revelations in the Auditor-General's Report 2010.

Freehold conversion prospect revived

Posted on 22 December 2011 - 04:57am

Himanshu Bhatt

SOON after the northern states of Perak and Penang were won by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in March 2008, the two new governments caused immediate ripples in the property sector by announcing highly popular plans to award freehold land titles to residents.

Practical attention for the poor

Posted on 15 December 2011 - 04:55am

Himanshu Bhatt

IN March 2009, Penang made what some thought was an audacious announcement that it had completely eradicated hardcore poverty from the state. While some questioned how that could be possible, the surprisingly simple methodology the government undertook did make sense.

Jelutong jetty under siege

Posted on 8 December 2011 - 04:57am

Himanshu Bhatt

THE historic Chinese clan jetties at Weld Quay recently got a fresh lease of life when they received from the state government a RM1 million allocation for badly needed repairs and restoration.